Robert Payne's Archive
Jul
20
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When it comes to an online presence, libraries across the nation are notoriously out-of-date and lack a certain modernity needed to get people excited about reading and research. With Washoe County Library we took a new approach to the website design and functionality. What you will find with this site launch are a few different personalities – within one primary website – geared towards the varying demographics that make up any library system.
The Good – The Bad – The Needed
To start, we sent the client a questionnaire, or survey if you will, to get them thinking about where they wanted the website to go. They came back to us with keywords and messaging they associated with the site, as well as other websites they liked and specifics about them. After establishing the client’s expectations we moved to the design phase.
Design & Website Functionality
To lay the foundation for each site we first constructed the individual logos, and then it was on to the manufacturing of the website designs.
The homepage is based primary off of the serif fonts from old literary books. As lead designer Christine Harcinske explains,
“I wanted to capture that classic literary look.”
We think she nailed it along with the other demographic portals. The Kids Zone went for more of the picture book effect. Christine drew the majority of it in Photoshop and Illustrator.
The Teens Site is a reflection of what is going on graphically at present in various media outlets and retail locations for this demographic. It is also supported with social media interaction such as Flickr, Facebook, and MySpace.
The Senior Central is tailored to their preferences with applicable graphics and content.
Each site required the functionality needed to display the age specific, demographic content with the homepage acting as an aggregate for all. Nothing a little XML parsing and displaying can’t handle!
We hope you enjoy the feel and functionality of the new Washoe County Library website. It was a fun project made even better by the fact that, despite being web creatures, we love books and even better, free WiFi!
Posted in Reno-Tahoe, Service Industry, Web & SEO
Jul
16
Huntsman Gay Global Capital is one of Twelve Horses’ most recent website designs to find new life on the Web. The design is simple, yet powerful, and properly communicates the collective experience and capabilities of this well-seasoned private equity company. The website makes use of our content management system to control website content and layout, as well as add new press releases, update Team information, and continually hone their search engine optimization efforts. Team members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, and managing director Richard Lawson also integrate social media activities such as YouTube videos and Twitter posts into the website.
Operating out of Palo Alto, Salt Lake City, Boston, and West Palm Beach, Huntsman Gay is a unique private equity firm with world-class investment experience. Founder Jon Huntsman is a true American businessman and philanthropist, and he is both one of the top 50 richest men alive and one of the nation’s top 50 givers. In addition, he is the father of the Governor of Utah.
For us here at Twelve Horses it is always a great experience to work with such a wonderful variety of clients, and Huntsman Gay is no exception.
tags: huntsman gay global capital, website design, utah website design, salt lake city website design, john huntsman, content management system
Posted in Finance & Banking, Salt Lake City, Utah, Web & SEO
Jun
25
Not far from the offices of Twelve Horses is the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. A beautiful place where dramatic snow-covered mountains cascade downward in to the sparkling blue waters of one of the clearest, most breathtaking bodies of water in the world. Juxtaposed to this raw beauty are businesses that depend on the Web to communicate their brand to the wayward traveler looking for information to help them make informed decisions.
Last year, Homewood Mountain Resort came to Twelve Horses for a website redesign, which you may have read about here. Like many of our website design projects, we were tasked with organizing large amounts of information into a user-friendly format that satisfies both the client and their end user. A common practice we employ to accomplish this delicate balancing act are module tabs or user interface (UI) design patterns. Whenever possible, we strive to accompany these tabs with both text and graphics to improve the experience.
Smashing Magazine just recently published an article titled, Module Tabs in Web Design: Best Practices and Solutions. The article features Homewood Mountain Resort along with some other exceptional examples of module tabs being used to optimize web pages. Here is an excerpt from the article:
A module tab is a User Interface (UI) design pattern where content is separated into different panes, and each pane is viewable one at a time. The user requests content to be displayed by clicking (or in some instances hovering over) the content’s corresponding tab control.
Module tabs are seeing an increase of use as websites and web applications push for optimizing web page screen areas without sacrificing the amount of information presented at once. For example, in weblogs, they are used in secondary content sections (such as the sidebar) to present relevant and interesting information such as a listing of blog posts which users can interact with to get to web pages quicker. This inevitably allows for an unobtrusive and compact manner of presenting content.
This article discusses the use of the module tabs design pattern for use in websites and web-based applications. We share with you some best practices to consider when using module tabs, a listing of real-world examples of websites the take advantage of module tabs, as well as tutorials and free downloadable scripts for building and deploying module tabs in your sites.
Give it a read.
Posted in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Member Orgs, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism, Utah, Web & SEO
Jun
18
TUESDAY, JUNE 23RD, DOORS AT 7PM, SCREENING AT 8PM
Downtown Reno: Nevadan Hotel, 3rd Floor Club Cal Neva (West side of Virginia Street)
Proceeds benefit Reno Bike Project and The Holland Project
Register Now
On the heels of National Bike Month, the Tour De Nez and the Reno Film Festival, Reno’s cycling culture gets a special pre-release screening of Veer. This award-winning, feature length documentary film explores America’s fast-growing bicycling culture by profiling five people whose lives are inextricably tied to bicycling and the bike-centric social groups they belong to. The film follows these characters over the course of a year, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their personal struggles and triumphs.
Described as a “breakthrough documentary,” the film made its world premiere at the Victoria Film Festival earlier this summer and has won a Jury Award for Best Doc at the Calgary Film Festival, won Best Documentary at the Calgary Underground Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Documentary at the San Joaquin International Film Festival. Veer examines what it means to be part of a community, and how social movements are formed.
REGISTER NOW AND GET YOUR TICKETS
CHECK OUT THE FACEBOOK EVENT
FLICKR PICS AND GOODS
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
TRAILER
Come out and support your local community cycling and arts organizations!
The event is a benefit fundraiser for the Reno Bike Project, a community bicycle shop and cycling advocacy organization, and the Holland Project, Reno’s non-profit youth-run arts, music and culture organization. Sponsors include Twelve Horses, Club Cal Neva, Chrome Bags, Jet Lites, and Silver Peak (“It’s only beer, and it’s only at Silver Peak Reno.”).
See you there!
Technorati Tags:
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Posted in Reno-Tahoe, Social, Travel & Tourism, events
